Bell's Amber Ale - Bell's Brewery, Inc.

akorsak

Pennsylvania

3.23/5  rDev -16.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

A: The ale is an orange/amber color with a thin ring of head and a great deal of sediment.

S: The aroma is very biscuity with little hop bitterness.

T: The taste is a grainy malt that is underscored by a sweet honey flavor that is very subtle and soft. There is not a great deal of flavor here beyond the malts.

M: The mouthfeel is malty with a bit of hops, fitting in well with what I would expect.

D: The slight sweetness makes for a good drinkability here.

Serving type: bottle

10-23-2006 13:00:17 | More by akorsak

WVbeergeek

Ohio

4.05/5  rDev +5.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Appearance: Orange tinted glowing amber hazed body with an off white orange cream colored head nice two finger sized head full thick and creamy in appearance, lacing is speckled through out. Aroma: Bready mix of sweet grain and yeast tones along with a very intriguing hop aroma especially for an amber ale earthy tones with a bite of citrus there. Taste: Great malt profile blends well balanced between the doughy sweetness, fuggle hops, and grain driven honey like sweetness with a brown sugar quality about the flavor. Mouthfeel: Sticky in a good way medium to fuller bodied for an amber ale, excellent carbonation nothing to knock gotta give it praise. Drinkability: Challenging amber ale I am definitely impressed by the flavorfulness of this if this is there flagship ale that speaks volumes about Bell's, they make flavorful beer, yum.

Serving type: bottle

10-20-2003 15:47:52 | More by WVbeergeek

RblWthACoz

Pennsylvania

4.28/5  rDev +11.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Pours a pretty clouded orange-ish brown amber. Slight leafy nose. Seems very calm though. The flavor really brings it here. Even and firm bodied. Consistently earthy woody tones. Feel is very well bodied on the liquid and a good carbonation as well. I'm calling this as a good example of the style and an overall good brew to try.

Serving type: bottle

12-31-2007 19:47:36 | More by RblWthACoz

barleywinefiend

Washington

3.15/5  rDev -18.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

recieved this one in a trade.
Poured a deep amber color with an average off white head, kinda rocky. Nose was malt, hops and that was about all I could take from it. Well hopped and well balanced, smooth. Something was different with the malts, caramel malts and maybe some English malts. Not like most Ambers I had tasted but ok nevertheless.

Serving type: bottle

07-22-2008 14:35:01 | More by barleywinefiend

Wasatch

Utah

3.85/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Thanks goes out to MuddyFeet for this brew.

Pours a cloudy amber color, nice carbonation, nice little creamy tannish head, some sticky lacing to follow. The nose is malty, and some caramel. The taste is malty and some caramel. Slight bitterness in the finish. Medium body. Drinkable, another nice brew from Bells, recommended.

Serving type: bottle

09-27-2007 01:37:50 | More by Wasatch

rhoadsrage

Illinois

3.9/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

(Served in an American pint glass)

A- This beer pours a hazy warm golden copper body with a creamy off-white head. Strong carbonation of tiny bubbles keep the head alive for a bit.

S- clean smell with some nice soft citrus hops and a slightly pale malt aroma.

T- Nice light citric, grapefruit and a hint of lemon, hop flavor with a smooth pale malt flavor to balance the hops. Hints of light toasted and biscuit malt give it good depth in the malt.

M- Medium body with smooth finish.

D-This beer has a nice hop taste with a good malt backbone. The hops are citrus flavors but they have depth so you can't really pick out one flavor. The malt has lots of pale but some toasted malt to give it depth and character. Nice smooth amber.

Serving type: bottle

10-16-2005 21:29:46 | More by rhoadsrage

Jason

Massachusetts

4.38/5  rDev +13.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Presentation: On tap, served in a 16 oz. American tumbler glass.

Appearance: Cloudy orange hued amber with a well dispositioned tiny bubbled lace leaving several thick rings on the glass.

Smell: Malty sweet with overtones of fresh toasted grain and a subtle flowery oily hop holding a citric nose.

Taste: Well formed malt sweetness within the medium body, moderate crispness from the carbonation. Faint buttery diacetyl, toffee and toasted malt make for the base of this brew, a tamed yet multi-layered hop runs through a pungent bitterness, an oily flower and a citric flavour towards the end. After taste lingers long and hard with more toasted and citric flavours.

Notes: This is an awesome example of the American Amber Ale Style, robust and very flavourful yet still not a problem having a few or even making it a session beer. Right up there with Full Sail or Anderson Valley in greatness in this style.

Serving type: on-tap

06-12-2002 06:14:19 | More by Jason

Billolick

New York

3.8/5  rDev -1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Typical 12 ounce bottle, w/o pours typical lighter amber, clear, light tan head, showing better then average retention and then leaving decent frothy lace on the glass. Faint malty, honey nose. Malty brew, smooth and balanced. Middle of the road style, and certainly not my favorites but this one is better then the rest. Balance is the central theme. Fine sessioner.

Serving type: bottle

08-19-2008 02:05:38 | More by Billolick

mdfb79

New York

3.8/5  rDev -1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a 12 oz. bottle into my Bell's tulip because I can. Bottled on 02/07/12, batch 10918.

a - Pours a deep, murky oranger-brown color with one finger of light tan head and moderate carbonation evident.

s - Smells of bready malts, toasted malts, caramel malts, fruity malts, light floral hops, grains, and citrus hops. Ton of malts in the nose, pretty nice.

t - Tastes of fruity malts, toasted malts, bread, grains, wheat, caramel malts, dark fruits, light sweet sugar, and citrus hops. More fruit then the nose and less toasted and bready malts; slightly better then the nose.

m - Medium body and moderate carbonation. Smooth and easy to drink.

o - Overall a pretty nice beer. Not my favorite style, but one of the better easily accessible amber ales out there. Not of toasted and bready malts in the nose and some sweet fruity malts in the taste. Very easy to drink, could see a lot of non-craft beer drinkers enjoying this. Wouldn't buy it too often but worth checking out.

Serving type: bottle

03-20-2012 01:27:38 | More by mdfb79

ppoitras

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

12oz bottle from deejaydan as part of the WTF ASAP BIF. Thanks for the opportunity. From their website: The Batch ID that you entered '7039', is a Bell's Amber Ale. Your Bell's Amber Ale was packaged on August 25, 2005.

Poured into an imperial pint glass, formed a 1/4" beige head above the clear copper brew. What head there was lasts pretty nicely, with abundant bubbly lacing. Aroma is well-balanced, with pronounced malt present. Taste is also balanced, with grain husks and hoppiness duking it out, ending more or less a draw, but with the bitterness lingering. Mouthfeel and drinkability are both pleasing, and this one would make a nice everyday type of brew.

Serving type: bottle

01-16-2006 21:31:56 | More by ppoitras

Viggo

Ontario (Canada)

3.18/5  rDev -17.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Thanks for bringing this one biegaman!

Pours a hazy amber, off white head forms, goes pretty fast, leaves a few lace spots. Smell is sweet, vegetal, citrus, some bread, nothing special, bit of citrusy hops. Taste is sweet, some caramel, yeast, bread, very light, floral in the finish, light bitterness. Mouthfeel is light bodied with low to medium carbonation. Drinkable, but a good example of mediocrity, maybe past its prime a bit? Thanks Jan!

Serving type: bottle

03-26-2007 23:32:19 | More by Viggo

Bighuge

Minnesota

3.78/5  rDev -1.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

The beer is cloudy deep golden with orange tinting. Very slight head. Not a lot going on in the aroma. Some sweet malt tones are noted. The beer has that trademark bready yeastiness to a small degree. Pretty good maltiness, but it is not so huge with the caramel malts as some ambers are. This is a refreshing example of the amber ale style. Some nice little spicy hop notes. Fruity tones are also of note. Solid brew, but there are many other Bell's beers that I enjoy a lot more.

Serving type: bottle

06-13-2002 19:27:35 | More by Bighuge

corby112

Pennsylvania

2.6/5  rDev -32.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Pours a cloudy copper color with amber hues when held to a light source and a one finger foamy white head that settles quickly into a lasting ring. Very little in the way of lacing.

Bland aroma with a balance of caramel malt and floral hops. Not much else to speak of.

Very hop forward with a nice caramel malt backbone and slight crisp fruit. The hops dominate this beer and linger all the way through over the malt backbone and subtle light fruit notes in to a bitter dry finish.

Serving type: bottle

09-28-2009 01:57:24 | More by corby112

Beerandraiderfan

Nevada

3.75/5  rDev -2.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Dark copper pour, ample head. Great aroma, very citrusy and orange from an amber.

Hoppy taste, even for Bell's, and definitely for an amber. Makes it more interesting, even if it can be criticized as simply being a hoppier version of a traditional style. Cool with me. A little sweetness from the almost balanced beer. A little oily as well. Not hopped over the top, should appeal to a wide variety of drinkers. A little pricey at 8.99 a 6er.

Serving type: bottle

05-23-2010 18:38:55 | More by Beerandraiderfan

DoubleJ

California

3.65/5  rDev -5.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A 12 ounce bottle received as a gift from Halcyondays. On to the beer:

A little hazed in this orangeish brown colored beer. The head drops to a thin creamy lace on top, leaving a little lacing on the glass. The nose is a little subdued. Faint fruity esters, a little toasted malt. A little warming up intensifies those aromas, and even brings out some butterscotch. That's better.

Bell's version of an amber ale tastes like this; it goes toasty and fruity, like strawberry. Not super hoppy, which with Bell's I though it would be. There are touches of pine though. Ok, tasting those resins, maybe it was hoppy once upon a time, and now the hop juice is gone. No worries, it's all good.

Expectations sometimes get really high with certain breweries. Although I was expecting something explosive, I shouldn't complain too much about this beer.

Serving type: bottle

08-07-2010 03:37:27 | More by DoubleJ

glid02

Georgia

4.05/5  rDev +5.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

This is the last of my haul from the Liquor Loft in Tallahassee.

Pours a nice amber color with some orange tint when held up to the light. A one-finger white head recedes into a light layer of bubbles on top and a thin ring around the glass. Lacing is not very sticky.

Smells good. There's a solid light hop smell - mostly floral, and some malt aromas, both sweet and bready.

Tastes a little better than it smells. There's a floral taste up front, followed by a sweet malt taste. The taste transforms into a breadier taste with a hint of caramel as the beer warms. A mild amount of bitterness comes through at the end.

Mouthfeel is very good. It's thicker than most other Ambers, and it's almost creamy. Very smooth.

Drinkability is good. This goes down very easily with a pleasant aftertaste.

Overall I was once again impressed by Bell's. Hopefully they'll make their way to GA soon. Until then I'll seek them out anytime I can get my hands on them.

Serving type: bottle

09-04-2008 01:53:49 | More by glid02

Gusler

Arizona

3.8/5  rDev -1.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A vaporous orange on the pour with a bubbly and light tan head that is portly in size with a thin curtain of lace. Nose is butterscotch sweet, fresh and quite clean to the senses, the start quite sweet, nice malt profile and the top a light to medium feel. Finish is brisk in its acidity, hops mellow and pleasant with the aftertaste desert dry and long lasting, quite nice Amber Ale, from a “World Class Brewery”.

Serving type: bottle

11-18-2003 00:32:46 | More by Gusler

beerthulhu

New Jersey

3.48/5  rDev -9.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

A: Pours a nice light burnt amber color with a creamy tan head.

S: soothing sweet caramel and fruitiness

F: For flavor there is a big creamy caramel palate, apples, some citrus hopping and a nice soft roasted character. The flavor is very rich, caramel malting, a well balanced floral hoppiness.

M: The mouthful is moderate with some warm caramel apple notes upon warming on then tongue.

D: A decent malt bill with good drinkability making for a good session beer.

Serving type: on-tap

01-24-2008 00:11:22 | More by beerthulhu

DrJay

Massachusetts

3.7/5  rDev -3.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Clear amber capped with a short white head that settles into a solid ring. Some fine bubbles ended up sticking to the glass. Malty caramel and brown sugar aroma with a bit of toasted grain husk. Fruity as well, with floral and citrus hop character. Pleasant malt sweetness with balanced bitterness and moderate hop flavour. Some caramel into the finish. Medium/light body, medium carbonation with a solid mouthfeel. Quite nice. Another top-notch beer from Bell's.

Serving type: bottle

03-24-2006 00:59:00 | More by DrJay

biegaman

Ontario (Canada)

3.38/5  rDev -12.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a cloudy, orangeish colour. Not much head stays but could be easily called back with even light swirling. Spots of lacing left behind. A very musty aroma, lightly roasted caramel malts mostly. Smells certainly closer to a pale ale. Musty and unappealing. Not much flavour either. Some nice malts but hints of diacetyl. Perhaps I expect more from Bell's given their excellent lineup of offerings or perhaps just the limitations of the style, but this one is just painfully average (at best). Thanks Frozensoul 327!

Serving type: bottle

03-09-2007 15:45:44 | More by biegaman

Brad007

Vermont

3.53/5  rDev -8.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Color: Cloudy amber color with a thin one-finger head and ample carbonation.

Aroma: Sweet and malty with mild hop bitterness. Light as well. Nothing overpowering.

Taste: Sweet with a decent breadiness. Clean. Smooth. Mild hop bitterness. Seems quite drinkable. Goes down very smooth.

Mouthfeel: Sweetness, malt and mild hop bitterness. Clean on the palate. Breadiness is present.

Drinkability: Clean and drinkable. Unremarkable though. Still a good choice for an amber ale if you're looking for one.

Serving type: bottle

07-18-2008 01:05:00 | More by Brad007

stakem

Pennsylvania

3.88/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a bottle, the head dissolved at a medium pace. Left little to no lacing on the glass. Looks are as one would expect an amber to appear, nice orange glow unfiltered with lots of little particles hanging out doing their thing at the bottom of the glass. Smells malty, and low and behold so is the taste. Its malty sweetness is the first thing picked up with little carbination with bits of bitterness bringing in the rear. Drinkability is smooth and easy going, I like it.

Serving type: bottle

06-12-2009 22:01:34 | More by stakem

Georgiabeer

Georgia

3.93/5  rDev +2.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a beautiful orange amber with alittle haze a short head, and pretty good lacing. The residual head sticks around for a while. The nose has some cereal grains up front and some malt in the background. The taste is very balanced and very nice. Creamy and spicy with mild but noticeable hops, and some fruit on the finish. Nice balanced mouthfeel and quite a session beer. Good solid standard.

Serving type: bottle

01-04-2007 03:32:56 | More by Georgiabeer

mothman

Saskatchewan (Canada)

3/5  rDev -22.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Well I would first like to point out the Batch Number on this beer being 8231. It was packaged November 14, 2007. I was very disappointed when I found this out.

Poured from a 12 oz bottle. This beer had a nice fluffy, off white colored head. The color was very awesome, fading from a light orange to an amber orange at the top. I can definately taste that this beer is almost a year old and it makes me sad that I didn't get to enjoy the full potentials of Bell's. The beer tasted very skunked, so I am going to stop my review here and when I get a chance to try an "up to date" bottle, then I will write a new review.

Serving type: bottle

09-11-2008 03:58:47 | More by mothman

Dogbrick

Ohio

3.45/5  rDev -10.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Nice surprise for an Amber Ale. I was expecting something along the Killian's line but this produced a hint of hops flavor I was not expecting, which made it taste like a hybrid of some kind. Very interesting. Rich color and good aroma. I am anxious to try Bell's other offerings. The only downside was a faint metallic taste toward the end. Not sure what that was about.

Serving type: bottle

08-07-2002 14:47:58 | More by Dogbrick